“Are they doing something different with the parking meters?” a woman walking down the street asked artist Sara Lovas, as another passerby took a cellphone photo of a decorated meter. “The ones down there had sweaters on them.”

It’s the kind of reaction the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs had been hoping for. As a result, a pilot program to transform 60 parking meters into works of public art has led to a larger effort.

The initial project began last month, after the office selected seven artists to design and decorate functioning meters in three Dallas neighborhoods. Last week, the Cultural Affairs Commission approved a $25,300 expansion of that endeavor to turn 100 more meters into art pieces.

Lovas, a Dallas sculpture artist, chose to decorate her 10 meters with the tiny red people interacting with coins. It was, the artist said, a playful way of exploring the themes of money, commerce and sharing. One meter has a figurine dropping a coin that says “Parks” into the slot. Another has a “Take One, Leave One” dish, where motorists can drop a quarter for the next meter user.

“I like that Dallas is starting to do things like that, where you just see art in a normal setting,” Lovas said. “You don’t have to go to a museum, you just come upon it.”

She added that she appreciated that artists like her — a graphic designer by day — could participate in small-scale works of public art. Most of the people selected to decorate the first round of meters have full-time day jobs and do artwork on nights and weekends.

Kay Kallos, the city’s public art program manager, said her office is making a conscious effort to include artists who haven’t had the chance — or who don’t have the reputations — to take on major public projects. Artists can be put on a “pre-qualified” list for projects worth less than $50,000. The Office of Cultural Affairs hosted a “Public Art 101” workshop in August and plans another one in April.

“This is bigger than the parking meters,” Kallos said.

No timetable has been established for the second parking meter project. Artists will apply via the office’s usual selection process, which involves being added to the pre-qualified list, then selection by a public art committee. Selected artists will submit proposals specific to the sites where their meters are.

The project so far has not been without its challenges. The meters Sally Ackerman and Ronda Van Dyk transformed into giant crocheted flowers on Elm Street have been repeatedly vandalized, leading the city to cover those and Lovas’ nearby meters. The crocheted flowers will be moved to meters near the Dallas Farmers Market, where there is more consistent traffic, Ackerman said. They, and Lovas’ works, will be unveiled during a ceremony and meter-art kickoff party next month.

Katherine Rodriguez, a Fort Worth artist, used oil paints to enliven meters along Jefferson Boulevard, near the Texas Theatre.

An apartment complex manager, Rodriguez started painting only two years ago. She’s had works displayed by the Puerto Rican Association of Dallas-Fort Worth, she said, but never in a gallery. The meters could be great exposure.

“It’s an open door — a little crack,” she said. “I would be thrilled if I got an offer from someone saying, ‘Hey, I’d love to have a couple of your paintings on the wall.’”